Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas edges into the Monte-Carlo Masters last eight but Casper Ruud bows out early

Stefanos Tsitsipas remains on course to defend his Monte-Carlo Masters title after booking a spot in the last eight with a hard-fought win over Laslo Djere. The world No.5 followed up his impressive victory over 2019 champion Fabio Fognini with a 7-5 7-6 (1) success over the Serbian world No.62 to book a quarter-final showdown with Diego Schwartzman. Ad/> “I knew I had to be alert,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview.

“He is someone who competes very well on clay. He stays consistent and puts a lot of balls back and I really had to work hard for this win. It was important to get a good dynamic start in the tie-break and stay in rallies and take my chances when they appeared.” ATP Monte CarloThe match that never was: What now for Djokovic, Alcaraz and Monte Carlo?8 HOURS AGO 'Mission impossible' — Djokovic admits he ran out of gas in early defeat British duo exit in round two in Monte Carlo Becker urges Alcaraz to take a break before French Open No.12 seed Shwartzman had to dig deep to end young Italian Lorenzo Musetti’s run with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 triumph.

The Argentine prevailed in two hours and 34 minutes to reach his 13th Masters 1000 quarter final and his second in Monte Carlo. /> Elsewhere, No.4 seed Casper Ruud was a surprise casualty as the Norwegian went down 6-3 7-5 to Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian world No.29 advanced to the quarter finals in the Principality for the fourth time as his controlled aggression proved too good for Ruud, who could not find the level that saw him reach the final of the Miami Open at the start of the month.

“I was really looking forward to the match,” said Dimitrov. “I knew if I did the right things, good things would come out of it. Casper is such a great player on whatever